Date:         Tue, 28 Jan 2003 22:29:04 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Subject:      Re: heresy: my next vanagon-a Honda?
Comments: To: Ben T <BenTbtstr8@AOL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <130.1a304f98.2b68740d@aol.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Tue, 28 Jan 2003, Ben T wrote:

> Yippee! I just got my significant other's 93 Honda Civic EX. The tow truck
> guy said it was his 4th Honda for the day. He predicted it correctly. Bad
> distributor. This is the headgasket of Hondas.

Seized bushing?  Honda owners call it the "dreaded red dust problem."
Unlike the Vanagon head gasket problem, though, it was eventually fixed by
a redesign of the distributor assembly, and doesn't generally affect '94
and later models.  (I know that doesn't help you much.)

I'd say the best Honda analogy to the Vanagon head gasket problem, though,
is piston slap.  Almost all of their I-4 engines develop it after 60,000
miles or so in cold weather, and it gradually gets worse as the car gets
older.  It doesn't seem to hurt anything, but it sounds bad.  The symptom
is a knock on cold starts that goes away when the engine warms up.  No
fix, just ignore it.

> Tomorrow at 930am I have am appointment to repair a recalled ignition switch
> on my daughter's 99 CRV 4wd.

> Thank goodness the rest of my daily drivers are VW's.

'Cause we know VW's are never recalled. ;)

BTW, I think the "van-like" Honda referred to at the start of this thread
is probably the Honda Element.  It's a neat vehicle, but doesn't have much
appeal for me.  The high SUV-style floor makes the interior height too low
for comfortable camping.  I like the general functional design, though.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full.  To the
 |___/             pessimist, the glass is half empty.  To the engineer,
                   the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."